Good news for students who need a job; a flexible opportunity to earn some extra spending money is coming to Indianola.

Marketlink, a telemarketing company, which does work with different media industries, will be opening up their location on Highway 92 across from The Sports Page. They hope to create 50 new jobs. Five of those are management positions, and 15 are being reserved for Simpson students.

“This expansion will enable us to meet the growing demand for outbound and inbound calling solutions,” said President of Marketlink Kourtney Keough in a press release. “We are seeing growth as our clients continue to recognize the value of personal communications for acquisition and retention of customers.”

The Warren County Economic Development Corporation, which has done work with Marketlink for the past two years, is responsible for getting the company to come to Indianola.

“They’ve been looking to create call centers in Iowa,” said Denise Kalbus, project manager for the Warren County Economic Development Corporation. “We were one of the communities considered. The Warren County area would supply a quality workforce.”

Kalbus said that this job is especially advantageous to students.

“It will provide an opportunity for Simpson College students to have a job in town instead of having to travel to the metro,” Kalbus said.

In addition to job creation, Kalbus said that Marketlink will allow for more money to be spent in Warren County and Indianola, thus boosting the local economy.

Simpson Career Counselor Erin Swancutt said that not only will Marketlink be creating 15 new jobs for students, but they also will cater to their needs as well.

“It’s a really unique opportunity because the jobs are four nights a week from 4-8:30 (p.m.),” Swancutt said. “They get to pick what night off they want every week as long as you tell them by Wednesday the week before. You can make the arrangements, and the night off can change every week.”

In addition to being able to choose their own days off, students also are not forced to work during breaks.

“You automatically have breaks off because Marketlink gets the academic calendar, and they know when all the breaks are,” Swancutt said. “It’s really targeted towards the students. They want to hire you and they want to make sure that it’s during hours that work for you.”

Swancutt said the job will be a telemarketing position, but students will only be calling existing customers and not randomly selected people. She also added that Marketlink coming to Indianola will be very good for both Warren County and the town.

“Anytime you get a new business into the area, it boosts the publicity,” Swancutt said. “It shows that businesses are willing to come into the area. There’ve been press releases all over the area, and when Indianola’s name gets mentioned in big newspapers, it puts the town on the frontlines of other businesses, saying ‘Where’s Indianola, and what does it have to offer us?'”

Marketlink currently employs over 400 people, and has six other call centers in Iowa and Minnesota.